Changdeokgung Palace

OK, let's take a jump back in time to last November...and finish posting about my trip to South Korea!  Seoul is full of Korean history (I know, just call me Captain Obvious)!  There were several royal palaces to visit and I only saw a couple of them.  This is Changdeokgung - I have this helpful sign picture to tell me which palace this was. 

Funny story the morning I visited...I was with a friend for part of my visit to Seoul, but he had to take the train home to return to work on Monday. So Sunday I was on my own. We had walked by this palace once but just before it closed so we didn't go in.  When I went back on Sunday morning, there was a group congregating outside the subway station and a very friendly Korean man saw me coming up the stairs.  He came right up to me, smiling, shook my hand and welcomed me to the group!  I must have looked confused because then he asked if I was with some Meetup group and I was like "um, no"!  He apologized profusely and sent me on my way. I guess they were a Meetup group headed sight-seeing.  Let's face it, I was probably the only blonde woman coming out of the station, so it seemed like I might have been looking for him.  Too funny!  Friendly though.   

The ticket price included a free tour (in English!) if you arrived at the appointed time.  We got a bit of history about the palace and grounds, as well as the emporers who lived here.  The building above was a hall where the emporer would have received all kinds of formal guests - his main "court" if I put it into British palace terms. 

 

This was a residential building in the complex.  The building on the left was the empress' house and along the back you can see a covered walkway - that connected to the emporer's house which is just off camera.  Secret passage for private visits - spicy!

This was a view into one of the houses.  It was built near the emporer and empress's houses for the emporer's primary mistress.  Again with the fun scandals!  The Tudors have nothing on the Koreans.

Finally, another view of the main hall, showing some of the courtyard.  Can you see the main sidewalk up the center that the people are on?  That would have been for the emporer to approach the hall.  The little stone signs in the foreground were markers for where important military and government advisors were to line up for official ceremonies. 



Royal Ascot

In mid-June, I got to experience a fantastic British tradition - Royal Ascot!  

Ascot Racecourse is just a bit outside of London to the southwest.  Royal Ascot is just one of many horse racing events that take place during the summer.  It has been around since the early 1700's and was founded by Queen Anne. 

Royal Ascot is a highlight of the British social calendar (with an emphasis on high society).  Queen Elizabeth attends every year, sometimes every day throughout the week.  Many other members of the royal family attend as well.  The Queen arrives in horse-drawn carriage at the start of each race day. 

 

For those counting, this was my second Queen sighting in just one week!!  Probably a record never to be surpassed.  We were a little disappointed not to see any of the younger royals the day we attended.

 

The guests at Ascot are divided into three "enclosures."  The entire grounds and grandstand are divided by the enclosures and your ticket determines where you have access during the day. There are no assigned seats, just the enclosure level and within that enclosure, the seats are first come, first serve. 

The highest enclosure is the Royal Enclosure.  To gain access you need to be a member of Royal Ascot.  I can't tell you exactly what that means because its a little hazy, but I think you need to have money and be important in society, or something like that.  So how did I get in?  You don't think I have money and prestige?  Ha ha ha!!  You are right.  I was able to apply for entry through the US Embassy here in London.  They reserve spots for foreign nationals because I guess that looks good to have nice foreigners in the Royal Enclosure?  I have no idea why, but that was my ticket in! 

 

After a couple of rounds of forms and paper-work, here was my "badge" that arrived in the mail.  The badge was my ticket to the Royal Enclosure and I had to wear it throughout the day.   

I attended with are three other Americans and one Swede.  We hired a car to drive us to Ascot in the morning.  You can take a train, but they are notoriously crowded during Ascot (like you might not get a seat and have to stand for the hour ride!).  Also, the economics of buying five return train tickets wasn't much cheaper than the car.

 

Now for the best part of the day.  Ascot has a dress code according to the enclosure you are in.  The Royal Enclosure is the fanciest and here is a summary for women:  modest day dresses, must be at least to the top of the knee.  No strapless and straps must be at least 2 inches wide.  You can wear a pantsuit, but it must be matching.  Most importantly - you must wear a hat with a four inch base and it cannot be a fascinator.  A HAT!!!  The men had some rules too, like a morning suit with tails and a top hat. 

 

My little group of friends discussed our hats and dresses for months leading up to this thing.  It was hilarious and we had a GRAND time planning.  Because hats are worn for fancy events quite often in the UK, you can buy one at department stores.  Or you can hire a milliner to create one for you bespoke.  We felt if we have the chance to wear a hat again, we may not want to wear the same one twice.  Buying doesn't make much sense.  So we found a great shop that rents them!  We paid about the same to rent as you would to buy a department store type of hat, except ours were very nice designer-made ones. 

 

Monika and I didn't plan to look like a catalog page with our coordinating colors, it just worked out that way!  She had originally planned to wear a black and cream dress with her cream hat, but changed to this bright green dress the week before. 

What did we do all day at Ascot?  Mostly just observed the crowd all around us!  Seriously though, the Queen's arrival took up about an hour.  We then had champagne at the cocktail bar.  Followed by several rounds of horse races.  You can place bets on the horses (and other things, like the color the queen will be wearing!).  I played in for about 10 quid all day and didn't win a thing.  Ah well!

 

The main events ended around 6pm.  Because we were there on Saturday, which was the last day, there was an after-party in the Royal Enclosure gardens. We stayed on for some appetizers and one more round of champagne.  It was great people-watching!  But admittedly the food was a little meager so we made a stop for some real food once back in London.  At McDonalds.  In our hats. I failed in not getting a picture of that because we were so fancy!

 

My favorite picture of me and my hat.  I miss my hat - it was special.  Can't wait till next year and I can pick out a new one!!

Canterbury and Dover

Mom and I took a little overnight trip during the weekend she was visiting.  First stop was Canterbury!  The Cathedral...

We were not able to visit the inside as we arrived too late on Saturday afternoon.  There was some kind of private service happening, so it wasn't open for visitors.  But we were able to walk all around the grounds.

Some of the gardens were really beautiful!

We had a nice pub dinner out in Canterbury.  Then Sunday morning we hopped a bus a little further south to Dover!

We hiked along the top of the cliffs, a little over a mile out to the lighthouse. Because we were quite early on Sunday morning (well, 10am, which is early for the British!), we had the path mostly to ourselves. 

Do you see how bundled up I am?  Mid-June here people.  In the 50s and the wind was blowing.  The "Great British Summer" they like to call it.  Ha!

The QUEEN!!!

The Trooping of the Colour takes place every June in Westminster. It is a ceremonial inspection of the military by the Queen.  The official review and salute to the Queen takes place at Horseguards Parade and you need a ticketed seat to watch that part. But the Queen and her family process (with lots of military, horses , bands and fanfare) up the Mall from Buckingham Palace before and then return after.

And here she is!!

We really were this close, front row spots!  That is Prince Phillip in the carriage with Queen Elizabeth.

In this carriage is the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate, in light blue.

Also in that carriage was the Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla (in light pink) and Prince Harry, in the dark blue uniform.

I didn't get a picture of them, but just behind the Queen were Prince Charles, Prince William and Princess Anne, all riding on horseback and in uniform. One of the many military units to parade by...

Finally, after the parade everyone crowded up towards Buckingham Palace.  The royal family came out onto the famous balcony to wave at the crowd. They weren't out yet when I took this photo. Then there was a brilliant fly-by of several Royal Air Force planes, including helicopters, old World War 2 era bombers and modern fighter jets. Really fun day!!

Just a quiet weekend...

This is how I felt about work on Friday morning...

This is how I felt about bring home after work on Friday...

And this is a sign I saw while in East London this morning...for a country that likes to avoid direct confrontation, this is a crazy-direct sign!

For those who think my life is all travel adventures - this is a normal weekend. More travel adventures coming soon...

4th of July

American ladies celebrating our Independence!!

Celebration included hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, pie, Budweiser...

Also some supportive British and Spanish husbands, getting their first look at the Bill of Rights here...

And S'mores!!

The Globe

Mom came for a visit and we went to see a Shakespeare play at thd Globe!

We had standing room tickets on the floor and the actors walked through the crowds lots of times. You could pay more for seats above but being on the floor was cheap and fun!

The play was Titus Andronicus. Not one of the more famous plays but wildly entertaining in this setting. It's a tragedy set in Rome and there is lots of blood and gore and death. We saw no less than 6-8 people pass out on the floor when the heads started to roll on stage. Amazing and hilarious!!